Adoption Tails: Calvin, Viv and Cornelia, Clementine, Alfredo

 Calvin, Vivienne and Cornelia

 1 day: The owner adopted Cornelia and their fiancé adopted Vivienne and Calvin. 

“I LOVE the three of them! They were super explorative last night and Cornelia came and dug under the blankets last night to sleep with us. Calvin likes sleeping under the XBox since it’s warm and he’s sleepy or on the couch next to us and Viv has been running (and I mean running) between her and I to headbutt us and kiss us for pets. They are perfect fits! We had them in their separate rooms and Viv and Cornelia were playing with each other’s paws and purring under the doors so we carefully introduced them and they get along swimmingly. We want to rename all three, but we haven’t settled on any names yet. They’ve been eating and drinking just fine, though Calvin is a little shy at the moment so when he comes to use the litter or eat we all hold completely still so as not to spook him.”
They all had crazy energy tonight. When it was dark outside, Vivienne saw her reflection in the window because the blinds were up. She got all poofed up and their owners said it was hilarious. They have all been so snuggly, loving and energetic. “I can tell these three are the perfect fit for us!”

2 days: When they wake up in the morning, Cornelia has been right there to greet them.

5 days: “We are in LOVE with each of these cats, but we’ve run into a bit of a problem. We’ve discovered that both the owner’s fiancé and their roommate are terribly allergic to cats”. They’ve both had a cat at some point and allergies were tolerable with one. They really wanted to keep them and they’ve tried toughing it out but it’s getting worse and worse for both of them. “We can definitely make it work temporarily, we love these kitties very much!” They’re cleaning like crazy to help with the allergens, and they’ve restricted the kittens to outside of the bedrooms. They’re still eating SAFE’s allergen-reducing food and they seem to love it which makes their owners happy.

8 days: It seems like their roommate in particular is getting worse. They’re having a really hard time breathing and can’t sleep because of it. They’ve been brushing them, using the allergen-reducing food, and are still restricting them to outside of the bedrooms. They have them baths with kitty anti-allergen shampoo. Cornelia has been renamed Xena and she thoroughly enjoyed the bath. The kittens are booked in for boarding so they can deep-clean and see if it helps with the allergies. “They’re very well loved, we just don’t see it getting much better unfortunately. I think adjusting to one cat over time will be much easier than three at the moment”

9 days: “Calvin and Vivvi are literally so perfect, they’re such sweet, snuggly kitties”. Xena started purring when they were trying to dry her. She especially enjoyed being wrapped up in a towel and being held while she dried. “They’re so incredible! Calvin just needs a little time to warm up, and then he’s silly and extra cuddly”.

Vivienne and Calvin, 9 days

 10 days: Their allergies are unfortunately getting worse by the day.

1 month: “She is absolutely perfect! Allergies are much better, and she’s such a joy! Every day when I come home from work she squeaks and bolts over to me, purring and rubbing on my legs for attention. She purrs all the time, especially when [they] wake up first thing in the morning or come home. She loves to watch TV (she sits on our laps and stares at the screen, especially for big action things like Star Wars, it’s so funny) and she’s so sweet”

Cornelia aka Zenia, 1 month

[They eventually surrendered Calvin and Vivienne back to us. We held on to them for 3 weeks because Zenia had a spot on her face that might have been ringworm. It wasn't so C & V were available to be adopted, again. And were, swiftly.]

Clementine aka Dolly

 

Dolly before adoption

1 day: She has been renamed Dolly. She is doing really good. She has been using her litter tray, eating and drinking.

1 week: “Dolly is a very happy kitten. The children love her and she just loves hanging out with them”

1 month: “Dolly is really good. She is so playful and happy. Still just loves the children. She is such a delight to have running around the house.”

Alfredo

1 day: They think he is a bit stressed with the move. He has not used the litter tray or eaten. He has been hidden in a box in his room. They’re unsure whether they’ll rename him.

4 days: They’re not 100% sure if Alfredo has toileted yet, but he’s been cleaning out his bowls so they’re happy with his progress.

9 days: Alfredo is definitely toileting a lot now and in the litter box. He is still quite shy and is keeping to his cardboard boxes. They have put more in to give him more play surfaces. They are hearing lots of movement late at night and early in the morning.

Around 3.5 weeks: Alfredo has gone missing. They have been leaving extra food around the house and have tried to see if the neighbours have seen anything. He’s been gone slightly over a week because they had an emergency overseas trip for a week. There was a window open about an inch to air out the litter smell but it was a very heavy window which was behind a closed wooden shutter. The doors are generally closed but there is a dog flap from the previous owner. They have closed the windows and blocked off the dog flap. They have been smelling cat scents (not a strong poo or pee smell) elsewhere in the house so they’re hoping he’s hiding inside. They’ve checked cupboards, under sinks, under the flush lid of toilets, but haven’t found him. They have 3-4 other cats on the street and quite a few dogs. 

 

Bond 

Bond adopted

3 days: Bond had a very unsettled first 24 hours. He had diarrhoea on the bed in his safe room and stepped in it so they took him into another room to bathe him. They set him up in the laundry room.

2.5 weeks: Bond is going excellent. He put the owner in the hospital for 2 days and 2 weeks off work. He is moving in leaps and bounds. He’s had full range of the house since Friday and has well and truly adjusted to them. He’s eating and using the litter tray with no problems at all. Bond is friendly to them all now. He laid on his owner most of the day watching TV. He also helps them do the dishes and the cooking. “Bond is going really well now and we love him a lot now.”

1 month and 1 week: Bond is going really well now and is in leaps and bounds. He’s come a long way in such a short time. “We are so pleased to have Bond in our lives”. They believe he is getting bigger now too.  

A recurring pattern?

Today Marmalade and Duke went to be desexed. 

Duke and Marmalade

They are both ginger,  have been with us since they were tiny kittens and it was just assumed that they were both boys. They came back Marmalade and Duchess! They had a lovely trip to the vet on a sunny morning. They haven’t, perhaps, ever seen or felt sunshine. They pressed their bodies against the door of their carry cage to absorb the warmth.

And we are not quite sure if Saffron is a boy or a girl. His/her tummy has the typical, desexed female sag/spare handbag. We did manage to remove the remaining clumped bits of fur from his/her side this afternoon with the rechargeable trimmer.

The fluffy pair of the C kittens originally named Clementine, Claudius, Cornelius and Cordelia and all tortie, to a greater or lesser degree, went to be desexed and came back to their sisters all with Elizabethan collars this weekend. (The vast majority of torties are girls and if they are boys they are XXY and sterile which would save us money.) A group of young folk who are about to move into a flat where they have permission to have a cat came to look at some of our older cats. Then they saw the C kittens and fell for them. They will watch the website like demons and come in at the first listing to claim one.

There was lots of mixing of cats in the Top Cat in spread out mode. . . ie rather than just being the extension of one condo, you can stretch the Top Cat so that is creates a ”fenced” area in Welfare. Most cats don’t seem to realize that they can scale the mesh sides of the condos and climb up to the top where they can hide amongst the carriers (which is a great relief. Even though Opie often clambers up there to lord it over everybody else). So we mixed Tibby, Tabby, Alfredo, Helena and Kate who all got on well. After we put them away, we wheeled in Lola and let her out. She hissed at some cats but eventually agreed to play with a fluffy wand toy. She put herself back into her stand alone after 20 minuets so I wheeled her out and rewarded her with the chicken remnants. She licked the spoon clean.
Outside the Top Cat, Tiger, Ginger George and Maxwell all enjoyed separate, stretchy walks to entertain the confined cats in that area. Opie disported himself in Incoming.

Opie on (Katie's) his desk

Maxwell is a very handsome boy. His squinty right eye is because that eyelid has had surgery to correct  an inward roll which made his eyelashes scratch his retina. It doesn't stop him talking. . . as long as there is someone  to talk back to  him.

Maxwell

Good News

 The good news is that somebody rang from the Blue Mountains to ask for Chichi. They had taken one cat from the home of several (?5) cats that she came from but couldn't take more at that time. Now they can take another. They promised to come tomorrow. So this is the happy photo:

Chichi not excited yet

The bad news is that two of Roxy's kittens succumbed to parvo overnight. We have lost 7 kittens so far. But we have RAT-like tests and various cats have been moved out of Isolation. (Luckily, for the testers, the test sample is poo rather than a throat swab. Imagine trying to get a nasal swab from any sized cat!) 

The lucky negative cats are:

Donatella and McQueen who are in the 3 wheeled stand alone just inside the door: Later in the afternoon they were having a wonderful game of "king of the castle" but. . .  by the time I figured out how to video them on the Safe mobile phone, they had stopped playing.

The small stand alone is reserved for the C kittens, whoever they are. Their neighbours are  Calvin and Vivienne.

Calvin

Vivienne and Lola: not on the best of terms

Milo was delivered on Thursday. He was the second cat that Safe rehomed. That was before we had our current premises. So he is thoroughly discombobulated at being put into a stand alone (which used to be Winnie and Demi's). If he wasn't such a mature cat, I would say that he is sulking.

Milo

Biscuit tested negative and moved out of Incoming into the Better Row. (Don't take the stuck-out tongue as a comment on Better Row. That is just the way his tongue lies.)

Biscuit

And Alfredo tested negative so has been moved to the Boarding row on the highest condo. He is a chatty cat. When found he had a flap of flesh hanging from his neck. A good Samaritan found him, took him to a vet who stitched him up. He still has shaven bits and lengths of thread hanging from his neck but he is very chatty and REALLY wants to make friends.

Alfredo on high

 

 

Rosie and Callie are back

 We were expecting them but they were late so we hoped that their adopters might have had second thoughts. Callie was pleased to see me and let me pat her head. That is progress. We also have new cats in Incoming. But the good news is that Ginger George has been adopted. The strong minded friend must have fallen in love with him too.

Biscuit wasn't supposed to come in but s/he got trapped and the other escaped. S/he is a very sweet cat. But grubby. There may be problems with teeth that make the tongue hang out.

Biscuit

Prada, across the way has settled in nicely and is friendly as well as beautiful.

Prada

There are four scaredy kittens in the stand alone against the other wall: Venice, Scooch, Muffin and Cookie. Seems to me that several folk named the kittens in this litter.

Venice, Scooch, Muffin, Cookie

And Alfredo below where Rebel was has a good appetite.

Alfredo

Gulia took Honey home over the weekend. They were both very excited. A woman came this afternoon to choose a cat to foster. It took all afternoon and she eventually chose Lola. But Lola didn't want to go. She absolutely refused to let Tim microchip her. So the fosterer took Nancy who didn't like the microchipping and hated having to get into the carrier where that foul dead had been done. But she was taken off. And we hope she will live happily ever after.

Sydney is looking quite content in the afternoon these days. So miracles do happen.

Sydney